OPINION: World Athletics needs to crack the whip to clean up the sport in SA

If South Africa can’t clean up its own mess, at least global governing bodies can offer some oversight and enforce accountability, and it seems World Athletics is being proactive in attempting to ensure Athletics SA (ASA) resolves ongoing controversies.

Considering the state of South Africa’s Olympic sports – multiple codes are facing a variety of concerns – it was necessary for World Athletics to step in.

Aside from issues facing athletics, swimming and karate, the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) is dealing with its own concerns, with president Barry Hendricks currently suspended for potentially breaching the organisation’s governance protocols.

And parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Sport has been relatively useless in addressing ongoing issues.

If the portfolio committee had its way, the ASA board would have been dissolved, with no apparent concern to the very real consequence of having the federation suspended for government interference.

The reality is that the portfolio committee has no real understanding of the rules of local or international sport.

We can at least give some credit to sports minister Gayton McKenzie, who urged parliament not to suspend ASA (which would have hurt the sport and the athletes) and reportedly pushed World Athletics to take action against the national athletics body.

If local governing bodies and parliament can’t even control themselves or make useful decisions, it is a relief that international bodies are at least making an effort.

World Athletics intervenes

In a letter sent to ASA last week, World Athletics told the national body it needed to sack president James Moloi for misusing a federation credit card, and it needed to overhaul its constitution to address multiple governance concerns.

And even if Moloi is removed, as World Athletics has essentially demanded (or the national federation will be suspended), ASA vice-president John Mathane is also facing allegations after allegedly requesting his costs be covered to attend the World Athletics U20 Championships without approval from the board, despite ASA not being able to cover the costs of athletes.

For every individual facing controversy in South African athletics, there are a thousand athletes, coaches, volunteers, technical officials, event organisers and administrators working hard to try and ensure the sport is on a straight and narrow path to recovery.

And for the sake of each of them, after decades of in-fighting and corruption which have affected the sport, let’s hope World Athletics can crack the whip and clean things up.